Those pesky paparazzi at JFX Online went down to the Star Trek location shoot (after a local news team blabbed to the world where to go) and nabbed some shots of the set piece, faux ice sheet and lots of shots of John Cho (the new Sulu) in some kind of space suit practicing for an action scene. See below [spoilers].

BadassClearly when John Cho told Star Trek Magazine that he thought Sulu was going to be ‘a badass’ in the film and that he had to do fight training, he was referring to sequences like the one shooting this week.

Klingon? not likelyJFX has a second set of photos with a closer look at the set piece revealed by Fox 11 news and another character they think might be a Klingon, but TrekMovie.com is almost certain is not.

those suit components would never be used in such an environment and the surface skin of the material is far too thin to be viable in a hostile/space environment definitely not 22nd century technology there. Also the starfleet logo on his suit is .22 microns too small on the lower arching cusp

I wish people would stop making fun of people who believe in adhering to canon. The joke may have been funny at first, but it’s REALLY old at this point. And unoriginal. Not to mention it poorly represents the goals and beliefs of purists like me; we don’t obsess over tiny details, it’s the HUGE changes that JJ and Orci are making that we’re not so happy with.

The suit looks cool, but not very TOS-y. As for the sword…I think they’re missing the point that fencing was a HOBBY of Sulu’s. Not a major combat technique that he would bring with him on the battlefield. Not to mention that Japanese swordfighting (which is what it looks like he’s doing there) is totally different from the discipline of fencing.

With some people not wanting a time travel movie what about this? The last time we saw Spock he was on the Romulan home planet maybe Spock gets caught and the Romulans inject a truthserum. We see Spock’s thoughts in flashbacks with Spock so drugged up he see himself inside the flashbacks so he gets to talk to his younger self. Spock fights not to give anything away to the Romulans so he starts making things up to confuse them. You know those Romulan they want to know everything even how much you paid for that car.

I’m saying…it’s the base of something circular, or which we are only seeing the front half – the rest to be added digitally. Maybe a landing gear of some sort – definitely has some “strut” aspect to it, and the vertical post coming out of the middle seems to indicate that it connects to something above. Also, given the size comparison to the pictures of people on it, I’m saying it’s something fairly BIG.

Of course, it’s all BS! but something to think about while we fritter away the months.

#25: Good call on the sash. Just re-watched the TOSR Menagerie 2 with the Kaylar, and they seem to carry around axes on a regular basis, and the scene is littered with maces, swords and shields all over the place.

#24—Speculation, of course, but I would guess that if Sulu is fighting with a sword, then he has been put into a situation where the sword is his only weapon available. THAT is “TOS-y” (good adjective). And didn’t I read somewhere that Cho was taking “fencing” lessons in preperation for his role? It is clearly not a fencing sword, but it looks like he is executing some very standard “parrying” techniques from the still shots. Besides, I doubt the spacesuit would afford him the maneuverablity necessary to use the classic “hand-to-hip” fencing form.

As for the look of the suit, I only recall the spacesuit from TOS “The Tholian Web”. That episode was obviously from the 3rd season of TOS. Since we do not know the timeframe of this action sequence, or if it takes place in the original timeline for that matter, it is hardly definitive as to whether it is “canon”.

Secondly, it is not beyond the realm of possibility to have changed standard issue spacesuits within the five-year mission. I once had my Marine Corps issued camouflage utility jacket checked in and was reissued a Gortex version within the same overseas deployment. We also exchanged our M60 Medium machine guns for the newer M240G’s within that same deployment (never having test-fired it before, we were given the flight deck of the USS Guam and the open Atlantic to do it).

If “canon” is the major issue for you, then what is the difference in creatively explaining it within “canon” here—and every other time we have had to do so since 1966?

>>As for the look of the suit, I only recall the spacesuit from TOS “The Tholian Web”. That episode was obviously from the 3rd season of TOS.

Don’t forget the thermal suits worn in The Naked Time. Different design all together, but since we’ve never been given a tour of the Star Fleet Quartermaster’s catalog, who’s to say what the environment might be like wherever Sulu is.

Lets not forget people… This is a Paramount sanctioned Trek on Film… IT CREATES CANON. Just because we never saw it, doesnt mean it doesnt exist. The US Military has dozens of different uniform types etc… we only saw a very small portion of the fleet in TOS and mostly just the same crewpeople. Things can happen “off screen”. (hee hee)

Could that set piece be somehow related to the deflector dish? It’s about the right color, and general shape, but I don’t know. It’s probably not, because it looks too industrial. I doubt they’d do a scene like that anyway, because of First Contact.

It’s my understanding (and forgive me if this is spoilerish), but the story overlaps various eras of Kirk’s life. Meaning, when we see Kirk at one point, he will be at the Academy and later he will be about to take command of the Enterprise. One might think we could see Kirk with a Farragut insignia in there somewhere.

Also, since there are scenes set at the Academy, we should also see the ornate “sunburst” insignia many flag officers wore in TOS, plus we could see the smaller version of it that cadets seem to have worn on their shiny tunics (Finnegan in “Shore Leave,” for example).

On second thought, I don’t believe this is part of a ship. At least, not in space. I don’t think they would film in natural sunlight if it was a space scene. They’d shoot it indoors with a strong keylight, and very little fill lighting.

Oh, okay, this is from the leaked scene where Future Spock works with the crew of the Enterprise to raid the Romulan fortress where the time vortex was created and operated. Sulu, if I recall the details, is part of a team beaming down to distract the guards with a feint attack while Spock, Kirk and some security men attempt to break in on another side. Energy weapons can’t be used becuase sensors would detect them.

I do appreciate the fact the the design of the EV suits (from both the teaser and these new pics of Sulu) are giving a blatant nod to Enterprise. While I may be one of the only people here who actually enjoyed Enterprise (and was quite distraught when it was cancelled), it is apart of the Star Trek canon and therefore deserves to tie in with the TOS era.

#55
That was obvious? I never thought of the insignia like that… just thought lack of continuity meant they had thrown together designs or the different designs were specials- like a commodore for instance- not a different symbol for a different ship.

Someone knowing that makes me feel sad inside.
Not that I ever even understood about why a chevron in the first place? Perhaps it was a “private” joke.

Some have said that the sword is painted with a blueish color for VFX, but I don’t think so. Since they are shooting outside, I think the polished surface is simply reflecting the sky. In some pictures, where there is a distinct shadow, the blade appears more silver.

Sulu was adicted to hobbies. He had a new one on each episode. That was the game with him, so, he can fence both like datagnan and like a samuray and he will only be having another hobbie, as usual.

The EV suit has the colour and some shapes from the EV from Enterprise (I just watched In a Mirror Darkly and compared a bit. I believe it is the same “golden” colour.

In one of those descriptions made by people who said they saw things, someone described someone wearing a diferent insignia (one made of four triangles looking at each other), but I don’t remember who said so. Anyway, we don’t know that these characters aren’t serving on the enterprise when we see them with this insignia. Remember that Sulu was already on the Enterprise when Pike was captain. The correct thing for Sulu is to have the Enterprise Insignia and not any other one.

Now we are starting to see why the date change.
Re-Writes, Re-shoots and Re-tooling to make it more true to TOS.
It’s clear Paramount has retaking power from J.J. now.
I think we will now see more photos of TOS canon-type of things from now on.

you are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts and you keep throwing around wild assertions that I know are totally wrong. I have tolerated it a bit, but it seems to be your only goal here now and so you are clearly here to troll.

No need to feel like a dufus…I didn’t mean to make my statement up there so condescending. Just that they had been talked about. They came out just before they caught Chris Pine in that red uniform, if I remember correctly. I think they might be academy dress uniforms, but I’m only guessing.

I believe that this is one of the alternative timelines and the oranian treaty is in effect. That’s why it is different uniforms then you would expect. We know that the final uniforms will be similar to TOS so this being a different timeline in the movie makes sense.

This film really looks like it’s going to have the feel of TOS, the idea of sulu sword fighting in a space-suit is cool, and its fun. This film is obviously going to be action-packed, but in a Star Trek way, not just a shoot-em up. No wonder its been moved for a may 2009 release, i think it will be a big hit. I actually think its going to capture the spirit of Star Trek more than any other film or tv show since the original, i really do.

Regarding the insignia shape, it’s not a chevron, it’s an arrowhead. In Pike’s era, and into the very early Kirk era, it was smaller and less elongated than when the uniforms switched over to the black collar shirts. Then it became the more asymmetric shape that continued on and was adopted for general use by the fleet. However, it was well established that each starship had it’s own variant, up until the time of the refit of Enterprise. Starbases had the (I’ll call it) daisy-shaped emblem. The general “Starfleet” emblem, however, was seen on the red stripes on the side of the ship- that strange boomerang shaped thing. You’d see it sometimes behind a Starfleet officer during video communication with the Enterprise, also. Even during the movie era, however, Starfleet kept popping in new emblems on uniforms- Epsilon IX in TMP, Starfleet Security in TVH..

I’m hoping they do go along with the varied emblem concept for different ships and whatnot, because it not only adds the “canon’ aspect to it (which we all love so dearly), but it will be more fun stuff to buy at conventions. I suppose Herb at Starbase Atlanta is already being asked for Trek 11 stuff, even with the movie now over a year away.

There is no reason why ST11 can’t put Sulu on Pike’s Enterprise. His backstory is almost non-existent. Memory Alpha puts his assignment to the E as 2265, the year WNMHGB takes place, and he has no backstory other than his 20th century relatives.

There is going to be a certain demographic that is going to go into this movie already invested in Cho as the cool Harold & Kumar character. When the character goes into this Kill Bill, Hattori Han-Sulu mode, those people are going to go nuts.

Until these pix popped up I didn’t quite get it. I see now that this movie is going to be far more action oriented than Treks of the past.

With the budget they have, the location shoots they’re doing, it’s not going to be like ST1,ST2, where they were on the bridge most of the time. It won’t be almost exclusively on soundstages like ST3,ST5,ST6,ST7, ST8,ST10. This is going to be a huge movie.

With the Sulu sword pic I finally get what they’re doing with the ancillary characters- each will get a moment or two to shine uniquely. I’m guessing Sulu is the Legolas of this TOS universe. He’ll get the cool fight scenes.

re: 95. Sean
“#89
I honestly can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not anymore.”

Not in the least here. You listen to them being called Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov for three years by the other characters and all of a sudden someone decides they need first names (yes, I know Chekov’s was mentioned in the series in one episode by a non-Enterprise character) and all of a sudden they start being referred to by first names? Maybe it won’t happen, but I fully expect it will. Even Scotty, though we know his name in the series is never referred to by it by other characters in addressing him. It is Scott or Scotty.

But seriously? That would bother you? The only reason they didn’t refer to them by first names was A)Rodenberry hadn’t fleshed out the characters enough & B)in the command structure they serve under everyone is usually referred to by Lt this or Cmdr that.

In a private moment between say, Captain and Ensign, I don’t see how Kirk calling Sulu ‘Hikaru’ would really be distracting or protest-worthy. He called Chekov ‘Pavel’ in Trek IV when they rescued him (an emotionally stressful moment). Nancy referred to Bones as ‘Leonard’ in The Man Trap.

No one mentioned Uhura or Scott’s names (Scotty was as much an affectionate nickname as Bones), but then again we never knew anything about their families, nor saw them. Maybe we will in this pic (especially if it jumps around and shows some of them in the Academy). Perhaps Sulu will take Uhura down to the rec dec for fencing lessons, and then call her Nyota. I can’t really see how that would be distracting or distressing.

And really, just because we never heard the first names on the show, were we all under the impression all these years they never had them? Do we really think that over the course of 30 years no one on that ship ever called anybody by their first name?

#126–Sean, you are absolutely right. I spent several years in the US Marine Corps. Compared to the USMC, Starfleet military discipline is soft. Yet we still managed to call each other by our first names in lighter moments are beyond the presence of a superior officer. It is not at all inappropriate if two Starfleet officers use each other’s first names in a one-on-one conversation. If realism is what you are after, then that is what I would expect.

#123, #95, #89 first names, etc.
in “spaceship” scifi, there has always been a tradition of the “onename” secondary character; (“chief”, “wokalski”, etc.) i think this was a protocol established during the early war film genre. it worked as a clue to tip off audiences who was going to get shot by the nazis or whatever. if little private jones was addressed as “bobby” (“don’t worry, we’ll get that letter to yer mom, kid!”) he was usually toast by reel three. trek simply outgrew this. (note that even chekov didn’t get a first name until he was in a coma.)

not that that means much. but let’s hope we don’t meet william f. spock, jenny uhura or niles kyle on this one.

re:127. sean
I only count the series. What was said in the movies is a whole separate deal.
It would be very distracting…although not as distracting as trying to believe the “new” actors are those characters.

A good example would be that Of Gods and Men scene where Chekov and Uhura greet each other by first name. Sounded completely phony after they’ve been calling each other by last names for all those years.

Scotty’s first name was mentioned in the series…Montgomery. But no one called him that.

re: 126
Not a matter of being inappropriate. It’s a matter of what they were called by name on the series for 3 years.

#130–I wouldn’t want to see Kirk all of a sudden start calling Dr. McCoy “Leonard” instead of “Bones”, if that’s what you mean. But considering Bob Orci’s familiarity with Trek and the fact that he wrote the script (with some help), I don’t see anything like that happening anyway.

132- i totally forgot about that weird hand puppet plant thingy, let’s start a “Put Beauregard in the Movie” campaign, though i hope it goes better than the Mugatu or Bust effort.

The suit looks like one from ENT but done in a different color. i’m afraid that this scene when finished, though incredibly cool will look contrived. why is he down there? why doesn’t he have back-up (even if it is Unknown Redshirt #3)i know that what we know right now is depressingly little and there are probably some very good reasons why, like why a Starfleet officer is beaming into a hostile environment without a helmet for his suit and why did he bring a sword instead of a handy dandy phaser.

Canon people. I have a challenge… Try to explain this whole movie using canon… Its going to leave a bitter-sweet taste in your mouth, but you just might grow to like it! I could all fit, just not in the traditional sense.

Looks neat, if nothing else. I’d dispute that the suit looks like the TOS one re-designed, but it’s close enough :)

I wonder if they’re going to remember that Sulu was the Enterprise’s Physicist before he was the helm officer? I doubt it, but that’s what we saw in ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’.

As for the insignia, during ENT, TOS/TAS and the first film (TMP), all ships/bases/posting had their own badge. We had:

ENT:
Enterprise – 2D picture of ship with name
Columbia – 3D picture of ship with name, registry and motto
Intrepid – a circle/starburst with name and motto
Starfleet Command – a stylized arrowhead with name
Cold Station 12 – a snowflake with name
Earth Ambassy, Vulcan – a picture of the Earth with diplomatic corps name
Sol Security – three interlinked yellow shapes plus name

TOS/TAS:
USS Enterprise – an arrowhead
USS Defiant – a chevron
USS Constellation – a strange ‘pretzel’ shape
USS Exeter – a horizontal rectangle with ‘bolts’ along it
USS Antares – a circle with a spiral-part in it
USS Huron – a rounded-off arrowhead with two extra ‘arms’
Starfleet Command – a ‘starburst’, flower-like shape
Earth Outpost 4 – an oval with a thick black outline
Outpost Cestus III – similar to above, only without the black outline

#136 – I used to be able to pretty much explain anything in Star Trek (I was even able to explain the TNG episode “Genesis”) but I could not do it with Voyager (Warp 10 salamanders back to people) and with Enterprise I got to where I didn’t care (Porthos with lizard pituitary gland, bitter beer face grumpy Vulcans, and @#$& temporal cold war).
Star Trek Zero is just a reboot/reimagining/whatever.